At the suggestion of my 12-step program sponser, i started to attend AA meetings. This i did each week from August througjh Deccember, and i plan to resume attendance as soon as my strength is back. I attended open* AA meetings. during most of the year 1991. I could work and meet Dianne's needs asn also do my 12-Step meetings; so i went to the "mother ship where there was a meeting every weekday noon acriss the park from the university. I did not notice that there was anythinig distinctive about this group except fior their shared problem of alcoholism. Then i tiook a 25 year hiatis from 12-step programs.

I came back to my 12=step program in June, 2016. After about two months, i foun a man that i was willing to ask to be ny sponsor (e.g. spiritual guide -- but don't tell anybody in a twelve step program that i said) and he was willing to accept that responsibility. He immediaately made some suggestions about how i should start attending at least one AA meeting per week.

In the immediarte vicinity of Boise there are about 120 AA meetings per week. Almost all are "open"' and eacj is independent of the others guided only by "the twelve traditions" affecting gasic housekeeping principles. (The traditions are pretty anarchic.) Each group has its own few rules and sops supject to change through concensus.

I picked the group which meets nearest my home, which i think was a felicitous. As an autistic who is frightened by almost all people, i found the group scary. This group consisted of about twenty men and about a dozen wonen. Most of the women were heavily tattooed, a few of the men looked like "outlaw" bikers. A few are "well-spokennand seemed educated; a few had vocabularies consisting primarily of obscenities; for most aslmost everything "wrong" is f****n wrong, Many showed signs of meth addiction or the effects of prison time. Nearly half had green cards**

Then they began to "share their stories of experience, strength, and hope; the lessons they are learning; and the spiritual principles that are guiding their efforts to attain or maintain sobriety. Wow! I soon stop noticing the profanity and pay attention to the depth and maturity of the spirituality,

I think my sponsor would not care if i stopped going to AA meetings. I won't.

*open meetings are open to anyone. Visitors are sometimes reminded that the meeting is alcoholics ; andthat non-alcoholics have nothing to share. My group treats me as an equal.

** in this context, green card has nothing to do with immigrarion status. People who are court orded to attend meetings have them signed by whoever chairs the meeting sign the cards as proof that their holders were there.

A friend of mine, a seminary colleague, has enormous difficulties in his struggle with alcoholism because he has become rather violently atheist, and there are almost no secular Nebraska support or twelve-step groups. :(